Sunday, 22 August 2010

A few weeks ago, I was the fortunate winner of a competition on RANTWICK, beating off heavy competition on the way. The prize was valuable, but the last thing I expected was for the Rantwick himself to deliver the prize in person. Having now had the pleasant experience of getting to know him better, it is conceivable that in a moment of less than sobriety, he settled down on a bus or train with "London" on the front, and missed his stop. But I am getting ahead of myself.

After he had gone to all that trouble and travel (deliberate or accidental) the very least I could do was to invite him to partake of some ale at my local hostelry. The venture started promisingly enough, at the bar he got his money outbut I told him his money was no good here. What he though a 10 Yuan note would do I can't honestly say, but the gesture was appreciated. So, we settled down with our pints. It became obvious that even before drinking, coordination was not Rantwick's strongest suit, as he spilled his drink a bit very early on.As you can see, he did offer to buy the next round, so I quickly forgave him. But, after very little ale, he appeared to get a bit shaky.Maybe it was jet lag? I don't know. The quality of his conversation and company didn't change which, after all, is the mark of good drinking company. He even told me this joke: A duck goes into a pub at lunchtime, walks up to the bar and orders a pint and a butty. the barman thinks it's a bit odd, a talking duck that drinks beer, but serves him anyway. This goes on everyday for 3 weeks, and a travelling circus comes into town. when the duck comes in for his pint and sandwich the barman says to him: "You know there is a travelling circus in town, they might have a job for you". The duck says "What would a travelling circus want with a carpenter?".I did start to get concerned, though.By the time we got through the first pint he was certainly worse for wear.When it was plain there was nothing left in the glasses, we decided to call it a day amd a good one was had by all. Cheers, Rantwick!.